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My roman oil lamp! - Virilis - 03-21-2006
Salve!
Here is a picture of my roman oil lamp. It has been in our family a quite long time and it should be genuine. It was found from north africa, that`s all I know about it. Does anyone know what the picture in it is representing, Artemis, Hermes?
My pick is that it is from the third century...
Re: My roman oil lamp! - Marcus Mummius - 03-21-2006
I'll show the picture to one of my professors who knows a lot about Roman oil lamps.
Kind regards,
Re: My roman oil lamp! - aitor iriarte - 03-21-2006
Third century, correct.
If the handle is not bored, the rule-of-thumb indicates second half of the century.
I haven't got the catalogue at hand to classificate it.
Sorry about the depicted motif... Are griffins the pair of animals?
Aitor
Re: My roman oil lamp! - Marcus Mummius - 03-21-2006
Indeed those animals appear to be griffins: bird's head and lions body
Re: My roman oil lamp! - hoplite14gr - 03-21-2006
If they are dogs then it must be Hecate with her hounds warding off bad dreams.
Griffins were associated with Apollo. I am not sure because they are faded and they do not have wings. Wingless griffin was assosiated with the royal house of Minos in Crete in the Bronze Age, but i doubt them being griffins
Kind regards
Re: My roman oil lamp! - Virilis - 03-21-2006
Thank you all!
Certainly the heads of the creatures looks like griffins but the overall appearance is more like two hunting dogs...
Is it possible that this human figure is driving a chariot? At the left side of the animal on the front is a shape which looks like a wheel...
Re: My roman oil lamp! - hoplite14gr - 03-21-2006
I recall correct Leto the mother of Apollo and Artemis was going a on a chariot with 2 griffins - meant to reperesent her children.
But still they look like hunting dogs to me.....
Kind regards
Re: My roman oil lamp! - Marcus Mummius - 03-22-2006
Hi Jyrki,
This is what my professor (Arnold Provoost) told me, I'll try to translate it as best as I can.
I Quote:
It is a medallion lamp with a heartshape bordered spout. This kind of lamp can be dated to the 3rd century AD. I am afraid although (I am almost sure...) that this lamp is a forgery. To say this I base myself on the following observations:
-The heartshaped bordering of the spout is particulary clumsy
-The finish of the whole piece looks amateuristic
-The very light brown colour (beige) of the clay is very unusual for North Africa and even for Roman ware in general
-The depiction: a wrong interpretation of a chariot race scene. The horses are however not anymore recognisable as such. On the whole the depiction appears to be inspirated for the touristical market.
I am very sorry if I rupture someone's dream by saying this..
End quote
I think that this was not what you wanted to hear. :? I will ask him about the Leto in a chariot with the grifins. His verdict is not 100% certain of course, as he has not seen the real lamp, nor handled it in person but he Roman oil lamps is one of his main domains of research and we have a vast collection of them at our university.
Kindest regards,
Jef
Re: My roman oil lamp! - Virilis - 03-22-2006
Hello again!
Here are some more photos of that lamp. There is clearly visible some blackening due to the fire in the nose of the lamp. If it is a forgery it is a quite goos one :wink: !
Re: My roman oil lamp! - Virilis - 03-22-2006
Another pic...
Re: My roman oil lamp! - Virilis - 03-22-2006
And one more!
Re: My roman oil lamp! - IMP GALLIENVS AVG - 03-22-2006
In my limited experience with Roman oil lamps, I also think this one is fake. Usually the oil lamps do not have the design in the middle, although a few do. Those are usually VERY expensive. Also, the terracotta these usually are made of appears to be a little light in color to the other ones I've seen. I am on the lookout, I have wanted an original Roman lamp for a while. I'll get one someday.
Andrew
EDIT: As you mentioned, it is common to see the black burn spots at the spout on authentic ancient ones. I think that is VERY cool, and when I purchase one I'll probably try to get one with the burnmarks.
Re: My roman oil lamp! - Virilis - 03-22-2006
I just "googled" with the search words "roman oil lamps" for pictures. There were several lamps with the same lighter colour as my lamp. So it seems that at least half of the so-called genuine roman lamps must be fakes :wink: ....
Anyway I like my lamp :lol: !
Re: My roman oil lamp! - Marcus Mummius - 03-23-2006
Quote:I just "googled" with the search words "roman oil lamps" for pictures. There were several lamps with the same lighter colour as my lamp. So it seems that at least half of the so-called genuine roman lamps must be fakes :wink: ....
Anyway I like my lamp :lol: !
Funny you should say that, a few years ago it appeared that almost half of the lamps in some museums in Belgium and in our university's collection appeared to be fakes
. Forgeries are often VERY difficult to spot. The fire blackening on the spout does not mean a lamp is genuine, it is very easy to make a bunch of lamps and light them en masse for some time to make them appear genuine.If I had such a lamp, genuine or not, I'd like it too
Kind regards,
Re: My roman oil lamp! - Marcus Mummius - 04-20-2006
Hi Jyrki,
My professor told me that in his opinion the scene on the lamp is based on depictions of Selene/Luna (Lunar godess) with her chariot. I'm afraid he is still very much of the opinion that it is a fake though.
Kind regards,